Question

Do you think Barack Obama, if elected President of The United States Of America, will or should apologize on behalf of the U.S. government for Slavery, Jim Crow Laws, stolen land and the many other atrocities committed against African Americans?


Japanese Americans who were interned during World War two received an apology and monetary compensation from the U.S. government. The details are below.

In 1988, U.S. President (and former California governor) Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which had been pushed through Congress by Representative Norman Mineta and Senator Alan K. Simpson — the two had met while Mineta was interned at a camp in Wyoming — which provided redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee, totaling $1.2 billion dollars. The question of to whom reparations should be given, how much, and even whether monetary reparations were appropriate were subjects of sometimes contentious debate.

World War Two internment camp

On September 27, 1992, the Civil Liberties Act Amendments of 1992, appropriating an additional $400 million in order to ensure that all remaining internees received their $20,000 redress payments, was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, who also issued another formal apology from the U.S. government.

Would you hope for or expect an apology from Barack Obama?

Do you think the United States owes African Americans an apology?

Japanese Internment Information courtesy Wikipedia